Chris Meeke on His “Biggest Ever” Crash in Argentina

Citroen driver Chris Meeke looks back at the 14-roll crash in Argentina that proved to be one of the worsts of his career.

As is the case with any sport, sometimes you make a mistake that puts you out there at risk. Cirtroen Rally driver is no secret to risk-taking, as the 2017 season has already seen him go swerving around a car-parking lot in Mexico in a frantic attempt to get back on course. While Meeke managed to eke out a victory despite his mistake in Mexico, he fared much worse during his spill in Argentina. According to Meeke, he felt the Citroen begin to understeer shortly before his front left tyre clipped a rock in the sand – and it was all over from there. The car was sent tumbling off-course, rolling fourteen times before coming to a complete stop:

“It was a big one – the biggest. I remember everything.

We had: ‘Flat right, 200 and tightens minus late’ in our notes and basically it was a flat-out corner that tightens a wee bit at the end so you have to brake in the middle.

It’s easy flat, but just at the last minute I moved maybe four or five centimeters to the left to get a line, but from the [other drivers’] lines, you could see I turned in at the same point.

Then it just started to understeer, but I was like: ‘I’m fine, I’m fine…’.

But there was a small rock on the outside covered in sand. We hit that and bang.” – Chris Meeke

Meeke went on to say that while he’s made a lot of mistakes in his time, he doesn’t feel as if he “deserves” this one:

“I have made a lot of mistakes in my time and I’ve made errors in brave places where I shouldn’t have been brave, but what ended up happening this time, I don’t think I deserved that.

People might say: ‘What were you doing having an accident in superally [Rally2]?’

But it wasn’t a brave accident, or a stupid one or a commitment one.

But anyway, I take that one on the chin. It was my fault, but Paul and I are fine.” – Chris Meeke

It was an unfortunate turn of events in Argentina for Meeke and Citroen, the car was retired from the race and Meeke alongside navigator Paul Nagle were sent off to get CAT scans in the aftermath of the crash. While both have been cleared by medical staff, both Citroen and Meeke cannot afford to have another wreck like this during the season.

Nikola is a carbon-based life-form residing on Earth dimension C-137. Lover of all things fast and furious. When he's not tapping away at a keyboard, he can be found aimlessly drifting in cyberspace, looking for signs of intelligent life.